Paterson drug bust produces major haul of stolen merchandise

PATERSON - City narcotics detectives say they seized almost $19,000 in cash, truckloads of stolen goods, thousands of dollars worth of drugs, and a loaded semi-automatic handgun in a bust that happened Friday morning just after one of the suspects dropped his six-year-old son off at school.

Oscar Aguirre, 32, was arrested near School 13, and his wife, 49-year-old Dunilda Ruiz, was apprehended at the couple's basement apartment on East 23rd Street, between 12th Avenue and Broadway, according to Capt. Troy Oswald, head of the police department's narcotics unit.

Authorities said they were targeting drug sales being conducted from the apartment and said they found 834 prescription pills, many of them Oxycodone.

The detectives also seized a massive amount of goods - including power tools, televisions and generators - that apparently had been stolen from commercial establishments, Oswald said. Most of the items were still inside their store boxes, Oswald said. The confiscated items filled a pickup truck along with two SUVs, the captain said. Authorities have not yet put a precise value on the stolen merchandise, but estimate it was worth somewhere between $5,000 and $75,000.

Aguirre and Ruiz have been charged with various drug and weapons offenses as well as possession of stolen property, Oswald said. The handgun was a . 22 caliber MAK Brevete, Oswald said.